Breakthrough launches new interactive guide to breast screening

Breast Screening: The Facts is an interactive tool designed to help explain the potential benefits and risks of having regular mammograms for women aged 50 and over.

Designed with input from clinical experts and Breakthrough supporters, the guide uses graphics, animations, video and text to give women a clear picture of the key facts about breast screening.

The decision of whether or not to attend breast screening is not always an easy one; the debate that played out in the media in 2012 regarding the risk of having unnecessary treatment following a diagnosis of breast cancer through screening may have left some women uncertain about whether screening was of benefit overall.

This new guide addresses this uncertainty and will help women feel more confident in making a decision about whether they wish to take up their screening invitations.

Breakthrough Breast Cancer’s Dr Hannah Bridges said: “We hope that this innovative new online guide will help clear up some of the uncertainty that women may feel about attending routine breast screening.

“While we know that screening saves the lives of around 25 women a week, it also has downsides, including the risk of receiving treatment for a breast cancer that would never have caused problems. Therefore, it’s important that women are aware of the full picture so they can make an individual choice about whether or not to go.

“Our guide gives women the full facts and will help them make the decision that’s right for them.”

The guide will supplement printed information being produced for the NHS breast screening programme, which will be posted with screening invitations later this year. Breakthrough’s guide can be viewed on PCs, tablets and smartphones, and can be found here: breastscreeningfacts.org